My Music

Monday, 30 January 2012

In 1488 the Bretons lost a battle to be eventually subsumed by the Kingdom of France in 1532; In 1485 the Welsh won a battle to be eventually subsumed by the kingdom of England in 1536, and here we are 2012: a bisected administrative region with its president, and a country with a limited legislative assembly and its first minister. France rules centrally whilst English rule has become the U.K. rule of 3 countries and a part province with an in built English majority.

It pisses me off when people use the word 'official' in relation to things Welsh. Except for Dewi & 1 or 2 lately recognized, our Welsh saints aren't official; our national flag isn't official (there has been an official version since 1959); our national anthem isn't official. We can't have an official day off to celebrate our official saint's day in our official capital city, declared as such in 1955 when we didn't a yet have an official country, we had to wait more than half a century for that honour. Now that we have an official government the word becomes redundant except for the long awaited anouncement of an official St. David's Day Bank Holiday.http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/o-canada-ranks-low-sing-along-ability-ahead-213218721.html

What do you make of this? Newport & Wrexham are disappointed to have been knocked out of the Welsh Cup which is a prestigious tournament leading to Europe, it's the first time for years that they've been allowed to compete because they earn their bread & butter playing in England, and there is the crux of the matter, their English league takes precedence when there is a clash so they are obliged to field weakened teams in Welsh competition and now they blame the Welsh authority for not providing for their situation and not making an exception in their respective cases, but an exception has already been made in allowing them to play. That's their problem in not being able to decide under which countries rules theywant to play, and typically Welsh in wanting the best of two worlds. One day we will have to make a decision just where we stand, although sport is sport, politics is politics, and ne'er the twain shall meet; you'll be lucky!http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/16781560.stm

Sunday, 29 January 2012

Just sent this to the New York Times in response to an article comparing Wales to Greece suggesting that we are living off England's largesse: Wales, or as it is more properly known, Cymru, from pre-Roman times to the end of the First World War was one of the richest countries of the world in mineral resources and productivity; the country has been robbed, raped & pillaged until there is nothing left, sucked dry except for its water, with its valleys being drowned to serve the neighbouring English conurbations of Liverpool* & Birmingham. Wales/Cymru is no Greece, it has a population of 3 million and had enough natural & industrial wealth to be very comfortable indeed. It served the empire until its back was broken under England's weight, but we still have the wind & rain if only we would be allowed to exploit them on our own terms. We have never been supported by England, on the contrary we have filled her coffers for centuries; perhaps it's time for an apology and a reimbursement..
* Liverpool has apologized for drowning the Welsh speaking village of Capel Celyn in Cwm Tryweryn 30 years after they realized it wasn't needed, they were allowed to go ahead even after 35 out of the 36 Welsh representatives sent to the British Parliament said no!http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/business/global/the-wales-economy-slips-but-london-cushions-the-fall.html?_r=1

Saturday, 28 January 2012

'Great' shouldn't mean bigger & stronger, and bigger & stronger doesn't mean better. 'Small' contributes'; 'big' commands. Every strong empire has meant a step backwards; instead of learning we've been forgetting, re-educated by the occupier to adapt to and adopt his standards and his glory, to take pride in our new identity unburdening our past. For some it worked too well: Napoleon wasn't French; Stalin wasn't Russian; Hitler wasn't German; and Le Pen is a Breton. There's no glory in being Corsican, Georgian, Austrian having lost an empire, Breton or Welsh.

A misconception based on a mistranslation. The sands of time were a poor foundation for building a history that had already seen empires come and go. There never was a 'Great Britain', there was a 'large' Britain, and there was a 'little' Britain; Little & Large (two comedians). The joke is on the Empire builders and has gone on long enough; it's time for the first British colonies bar one, at long last, last being the operative word, to disengage..

'Great' Britain, dream on! Empires were cruel affairs underwritten by a false text: this is what really happened: the Prussians defeated Napoleon at Waterloo; the Boer War gave concentration camps to the world; the Russians beat the Germans; the British army fought under an American Commander-in-chief. So proud that the 'English' language serves the world, nobody had a choice in the matter, certainly not the Welsh who were beaten and murdered if they didn't join in, although to be fair, those who made it to the top table feasted as well as anybody, and will go on feasting given the chance. For some Welsh & Scots adventurers the Empire was a sort of Ali Baba's cave whether in voyage, industry or politics, that time is over, now your country needs you and that country is not the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland. Follow the English Conservatives into isolation & oblivion, or allow Cymru/Wales to act its age; we can't turn back time to when it was a key part of Europe, when our western ports weren't on the fringes but were gateways to the Mediterranean & the known world, yet there's no way we can participate in world affairs with a preposterous 30 MPs, with a government in Cardiff we can take a seat at the international table and voice our concerns as every other country does no matter how big or small, and contrary to what you hear there are many smaller. Cymru am Byth. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2092925/Scottish-independence-debate-Is-end-Britain.html

"Byn, Are you the full shilling ? I worry about you sometimes. I remember you walking down through Penydarren High Street in your vest , on your way to the Lamb as the snow fell like pillowcases about you , temperatures rarely exceeding freezing seemed to spur you on . I remember our last conversation in the Halal Indian restaurant when you declared " I'm off" , I thought you meant back to Dowlais , what you actually did is bugger off to France and I boggle at the success and impact you have had there . Well done my old pal , Gary (Taters)"

Those fortunate enough to get tickets for the St. David's day celebrations at the Millennium Centre will be able to listen to the works of that great Welshman, David Ivor Davies, better known to us all as Ivor Novello, that most 'English' of matinee idols. I must be missing something! His best known works were: 'Keep the Home Fires Burning'; 'We'll gather Lilacs'; and 'Rose of England'; he learned to sing 'Abide With Me' when only 6 years old. He should be praised, and I've just learned that he has a statue outside the place, but don't debase our patron saint's day which is a specifically Welsh occasion, something that he turned his back on at a very early age. I must say that I am very disappointed that our national day should be desecrated in this manner. Try as I may I cannot relate Ivor Novello to Dewi Sant, Wales & Welshness for that is what we are supposed to be celebrating, it's not enough to have been born on a street in Cardiff even if his music will be played on the harp, it has nothing to do with Wales and I doubt very much whether Wales was on his mind when he wrote it. A most unspecifically Welsh Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant I could possibly imagine unless they were to read out the complete poetic works of HRH Prince Charles.http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/music-in-wales/2012/01/26/music-on-the-menu-at-ffresh-restaurant-91466-30200309/

Monday, 23 January 2012

I just wrote this to the Mail in response to an arrogant Englishman: What the English need is a language of their own to go with a parliament of their own. The language in common usage now is one big steal, the greatest robbery on earth. 'Borrowed' the term forever used is a misnomer if not a downright lie, things borrowed are loaned to be given back, if Oxford or Chambers were to return their words it would shut up arrogant mouthings due to the new found poverty thus engendered. Not having the ability to create a language of their own they scoured the earth, built up a foreign vocabulary, put it all into a dictionary and stuck the word 'English' on the front cover, nothing to boast about, and the reason it's in universal use has more to do with the U.S. of A than the old country. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2090595/Why-English-need-speak-foreign-language-foreigners-speak-English.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Monday, 16 January 2012

The Franks invaded Gaul and renamed it France therefore Gaul no longer exists. The fact that Britain exists is because when the Angles, Saxons etc., invaded Britain, the part they conquered became England, the unconquered British remained behind the frontiers on the western & northern fringes patiently waiting for centuries to retrieve our birthright, some say the old prophesies were realized by the enthronement of Henry Vll; in the meantime the Old North; the Britain of Glasgow, Edinburgh & Carlisle had fallen into foreign hands. It was written in the 6th century by the bard Taliesin that the destiny of the Britons was to be the preservation of our language but the loss of all our lands except Wild Wales. It sickens me today to see large chunks of our country treating our ancient tongue as though it is a foreign interloper imposing itself on the native Welsh people trampling over their rights, when the opposite is patently the case. Centuries upon centuries of propaganda is taking its toll so that Cymraeg/Welsh, like someone on his knees, hands cuffed behind his back, being punched & kicked gasping for breath with his head intermittently pushed under water, is accused of aggression and ordered to stop retaliating. My point being that the British are still alive in their homeland to the west of Offa's Dyke, and any other use of the name is a misappropriation.

Ralph Vaughan Williams's grandfather John came from Sir Gâr, the name gives a clue to his Welshness, but you wouldn't have known it from the programme last night; he typified Englishness, his music, especially 'The Lark Rises' was an English masterpiece, the gardens were English, the weather was English, there was even an English fleet, it would have been a step too far if they'd claimed an English god, but I'm sure they thought it. We can hold on to the word 'British', they don't need it when 'English' covers everything. To an English mind 'English' means 'British' (in Spielbergs' new film the English declare war) except where it is 'Ancient British' and that's us, still alive and kicking. Which brings me to something else: a country that doesn't exist in anyone's mind outside its own population whose only 'justification' to exist is having a seat on FIFA and the IRB has global solidarity groups assisting real countries with seats in the United Nations. Are we punching above our weight or do we have ideas above our station? When a packet or delegation arrives from Wales they must be rushing to their maps, seeing that they are coming from England and wondering how a people who can't stand on their own two feet consider themselves qualified to help the rest of the world. The trouble is with putting ourselves above others on an international pedestal it shows we have an independence of mind in a dream world far fetched from the realities that can only come to fruition when we wake up to eventually decide things for ourselves, not as isolated charity groups but as a nation with its own legislative parliament.

Sunday, 15 January 2012

Just read a story of an American lightweight boxer who fought in 1916 against the legendary Freddie Welsh, real name Frederick Thomas but born in Wales, who had his car pinched, it brought back to mind something that happened to me a few years ago. Brittany has calmed down now and pubs are closing here same as everywhere else, but when I arrived there were six or seven bars to each village, not counting the clandestine ones in certain isolated homes with a bottle on the table inside the door and the money going into the table drawer; twenty something establishments in the small towns and nearly every village had a night-club, with six in my nearest town of Karaez/Carhaix. I'd close the bar at 1 o'clock in the morning and go down there to relax, of course it wasn't always possible, one day I was hit over the head with a bottle of kronenbourg as I was standing at the bar and only woke up with the blows of the kicks into my ribs touching a nerve; I got to my feet, started punching the person who was responsible, then I was grabbed hold of by the bouncers who asked me to leave, they having missed the source of the conflict, anyway by the time I'd gotten outside the keys to my car were missing and I caught a lift home with the newspaper deliveryman who went from village to village in my direction, be that as it may however, that is not my story; as I was saying, I went for a few pints after work to a little nightclub near the canal in Karaez/Carhaix and when I decided I'd wound down enough I left to get my car in the car park, after a good look around I decided it wasn't there, went back in and mentioned it to a friend at the bar who asked me to describe it, after which he discreetly went to see someone; about a half an hour later I was approached by another person offering me back my car keys; "sorry Byn I wasn't to know it was yours." I was relieved to get my car back but angry it had been stolen, which didn't help the situation, because he was angry that I was angry because he had done me a favour in chasing after his friends to get it back and I wasn't showing any gratitude seeing as they had stolen it in the first place, we both let it drop and I drove home to bed. In those days, 30 to 35 years ago it was like the 'Wild West', we never saw the police, especially during the big holiday feasts like Christmas & New Year. Another time in another night club in Karaez I had a gun pulled on me, I tried to imagine how some Hollywood hero would react but put it out of my mind until the situation diffused itself. All of the clubs are now closed except for one that re-opened later to a different climate. The Breton culture is the fest-noz, never any trouble there but this is the countryside, with the restrictions and the necessity to drive it's no longer guaranteed to fill the coffers of a local charity by organizing a function on a saturday night and dancing and drinking right through to the early hours; we used to be many leaving at 5am, now there's no more catering for after 2.

Thursday, 12 January 2012

The British army under Riothamus (who may have been Arthur) fought against the Germanic hordes of Visigoths on the continent in the 5th century; in Britain itself it won a great battle at Mynydd Baddon thereby preventing the German tribes from advancing deeper into Britain, the victory even caused many of the English to move back to Germany. Since a child I have always associated 'British' with the Cymry and 'English' with the Anglo-Saxons. The Angle invaders of Britain in the east & north east, and their Germanic Saxon brethren in the south united to form England not Britain in the exact same way that the Franks invaded Gaul to create France. The Norman & Anjevin Plantagenet Kings re-aligned themselves to British history so well that the Plantagenet branches of Lancaster & York fusioned conveniently (after the fact of battle admittedly) into the British/Welsh family of Tudors who had every right to speak of Britain, unfortunately or not the 'British' lost the throne to the Scottish Stuarts and all Welsh/British insignia went down the plughole, the dragon was ousted by the lion. In 1707 the Scots united with the English to create the new United Kingdom of Great Britain; it did not stop the Welsh from being British, but it did falsely brand the new state of no consequence as yet with an old name representing an ancient, proud & honourable line that will return to us with independence. Caradog; Buddug; Cunedda; Riothamus; Arthur; Maelgwn; Hywel; Rhodri; Gruffudd; Llywelyns; Owains; Henry - Great Britons all. To summarise: there is the usurpation of 1707 that will come to an end with the break up of the union, then there is the historical Welsh lineage which will continue long after said break-up. I have to explain constantly that it's alright to call me British but that I am not English, very few understand, but with my being a Cymro it has a deeper historical perspective, doubly significant, and before anyone says that's all very well but we are Brythons/Britons or Prydeinwyr, the Greek transliteration of almost 3000 years ago included the word 'British'.

Friday, 6 January 2012

I'm watching 'The Big Bang Theory'; Sheldon has been burgled and his main worries were for his comic book collection. When I was 12 years old I had first editions of most of the members of the Justice League of America, including: Green Lantern; Flash etc., it's a pity that I couldn't hold on to them, they would be collectors' items today; but I've been burgled 3 or 4 times, losing tills, computers & c.ds; lost a lifetime's mementoes in the pub fire, and I've misplaced Welsh books, in the language & about the country, that I collected door by door to complement Welsh classes I set up. My mindset has to adapt accordingly. When I took over the bar I found that it was heavily in debt; I had to take out a large bank loan just to stay there, there were family obligations, In the end I never got the appropriate insurance cover with the result that my car is stationary, and my food is brought to me weekly by a charity. Now that I've touched zero, practically no income for 2 years, I'm looking forward to getting back to work as theoretically there is only one other direction, and no matter how I sound at the moment, I'm an optimist who believe that destiny throws me more 'ups' than it does 'downs'. The only potential spanner in the works is the escalating interest on a personal loan; It is crucial that I am back in the bar well before the summer, preferably before Whitsun now that Easter is out of the question, I daren't think of the consequences if that were not to happen. See you in the summer.

Tuesday, 3 January 2012

On top: the Dolomites, does it remind the Merthyr people of anything?. You won't see the Italians selling this off for roadfill. The Whitey overlooking an unculverted Nant Morlais (ex-Stinky), following the trout swimming up the valley through Penydarren to Dowlais would have been an invaluable tourist attraction elsewhere; an industrial heritage trail unequalled anywhere else in the world, wasted as with everything else that's gone. The completing of the culverting was necessary for the 19th century not the 21st.

Monday, 2 January 2012

@John: Racist brush tarrings have no place on any of my sites. I have been spat at more than once, on neither occasion was it by a muslim. 120 years ago Merthyr was a Welsh speaking town, it wasn't Sharia law that turned us into English speakers, and it wasn't Muslims who forced the Bretons to speak French. Being spat at when passing in front of a mosque on a friday however would be a perturbing experience, especially for young women, and I sympathize, but it cannot be blamed on the whole Muslim world. There are idiots everywhere, there are also Christian & Jewish extremists as well as Muslim ones. I cannot speak of situations beyond my horizons, but no-one is obliging me to speak Arabic or Turkish when I go to the local post office. Multi-cultures have a lot to offer, but integration is the key to understanding, and tolerance on both sides is the key to integration. Who's complaining that curries have ousted fish & chips? Move on, nothing stays the same no matter how much we want it to. Throw a pebble into the pond it makes ripples, throw more pebbles and they make more ripples, no matter how many pebbles, no matter how many ripples, those pebbles are in that pond, you won't get rid of them because they've become part of it, but the ripples disappear and the pond finally settles. With unemployment as high as it is; with debt escalating; the numbers of homeless increasing; being governed by isolationist English Tory millionaires; and with worse to come for who knows how long, we have other things to worry about.

Sunday, 1 January 2012

There was a death in the middle of the night with an instant funeral; it didn't come as a shock, there was no illness to speak of although there was evident weakness towards the end and we had a long time to prepare for it with people up all night drinking to the passing of an old friend. The situation couldn't have gone on any longer so the end when it came was merciful; there was a good sending off as we all said our goodbyes to 2011.